Owner: Art Market Blog URL:http://www.artmarketblog.com Join Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:59:36 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Art market blog by art market guru Nicholas Forrest Site statistics:Click here
Art Investment Strategies: Great Artist or Just Great Painter? 2007-07-15 09:49:50 Art Investment Strategies
: GreatArtist
or Just Great Painter
I think that one of the most important questions you should ask yourself when looking at investing in an artwork should be “is the creator of the artwork a great artist or just a great painter (or sculptor, drawer etc.)??”. The reason for this question is simple, there are plenty of extremely good painters, drawers, sculptors out there whose artistic careers may never venture beyond what may be considered a hobby. So with an art market that is driven by many factors other than aesthetics, merely buying an great painting by an amateur or hobbyist artist is very unlikely to make you any money in the future.
If you are purely interested in the aesthetics of an artwork then the term great painter and great artist are interchangeable. But as soon as you start looking at an artwork from an investment point of view the definition of a great artist has to change because in order to make a good investment dec
Art Investment Strategies: The Importance of an Artists Career 2007-07-11 11:39:19 Art Investment Strategies
: The Importance of an ArtistsCareer
Having mentioned the importance of an artists career and profile many times, I think it is important to look at how someone like Cy Twombly, who I have discussed in posts above, originally made his name and raised his profile.
The first big break for Twombly came in 1950 when he met Robert Rauschenberg while he was studying at the Art Students League in New York. Rauschenberg convinced Twombly to go and study at the Black Mountain College where he met John Cage and studied under Robert Motherwell, Franz Klein and Ben Shahn. You may have already recognised the names of some of the greatest modern artists such as Rauschenberg, Klein and Motherwell with whom Twombly was able to associate with which was a great boost for his career and profile.
Twombly had also studied at the School of Museum of Fine Art in Boston as well as Lee University in Lexington before he was at the Art Students league in New York where
My Personal Experience With A Cy Twombly Artwork Part 3 2007-07-09 11:10:29 My Personal
Experience With A Cy Twombly Artwork
Part 3
So now that I have explained my interactions with Cy Twombly’s “Three Studies From the Temeraire” in detail, I am sure you are all wondering how it all ties in with the art market so I am going to tell you.
The continued resilience of an artwork in the art market relies on its ability to maintain peoples interest and evoke the sort or response that causes the artwork to remain in peoples thoughts. If an artwork gives away everything the first time you view it then there is no reason to go back to it and no reason why it should maintain your interest. If an artwork consists purely of the image you see at first glance and doesn’t involve ‘more than meets the eye’ then why would anyone want to pay large amounts of money to hang it on their wall.
As I have mentioned many times before, the value of an artwork goes beyond the purely visual and although I have explained
Art Market Analysis - Video Art 2007-08-18 09:01:03 Art MarketAnalysis
- Video Art
With the onset of the digital age, artists have been given the opportunity to experiment with different medium as a platform to create their art. Video art has been around since the late 60’s but has only recently become a recognised and popular form of fine art. Before viewing video art is important to understand a bit about its purpose and its defining characteristics so that you can understand and appreciate this exciting artistic medium. Video art draws from diverse art media as well as from communication and information theory which has resulted in a huge variety of works that reflect the expressive and dynamic nature of the medium. Having emerged as an artistic medium during the age of the video tape, video art has experienced a rapid evolution in a short period of time and has succesfully adapted and responded to the increased access of artists to state-of-the-art digital technologies.
One of the main differences between video art and theatrical
The Key to Successful Art Investment 2007-08-22 08:11:35 The Key to Successful Art Investment
One of the most important things to remember when investing in art is that a poor quality work is always going to be a poor quality work regardless of how famous the artist is. With such huge volumes of art being bought and sold it is extremely important for art investors to invest in an artwork that stands out from the crowd if they want to maximise the potential of an increase in value. Because there are so many works available on the market and because many of them are average at best, the works that will stand out the most and attract the most attention will be those of the highest quality.
I have lost count of the number of times I have witnessed people purchase an extremely poor quality artwork just because it was produced by a famous artist. Many art investors seem to be the under the misapprehension that if an artist sells an artwork for one million dollars that anything they create, regardless of the quality of the work, has just as much
Understanding the Art Market: Condition, Restoration and Conservation 2007-08-26 07:06:01 Understanding the Art Market
: Condition
, Restoration and Conservation
The effect that the condition of an artwork has on its value is something that is very unpredictable and dependant on many different factors. As a general rule you should try and avoid purchasing an artwork that is in poor condition unless the artwork is of significant importance and is worth the considerable cost of restoration or conservation. I have seen many people purchase artworks in poor condition that were by a well known artist and were cheap because they thought that they were getting a bargain when in reality they were wasting their money.
Restoration and conservation of art is something that should only be done by the very best restorers and will cost a considerable amount of money so one needs to take into consideration how much the restoration will cost compared with how much it will increase the value of the work. There are also many works on the market that have been poorly restored and will be even Read more:Understanding
Art Market Trends: The Value of an Artist’s Early Works 2007-08-24 07:24:17 Art MarketTrends
: The Value
of an Artist
’s EarlyWorks
Recent high profile sales of art by some of the worlds most famous artists has re-acquainted me with a trend that often sees works from early on in an artist’s career reach much higher prices than works created later in an artist’s career. This trend is not unique to the art market with early works from authors, musicians, designers, architects and other creative professions often regarded as more significant than later works. There has been much conjecture as to why early works are achieving higher prices but I think that the reasons are quite obvious and quite simple. From my research and analysis, early works often achieve higher prices because:
1. Early works usually signify the period before an artist becomes well known which means that they are at a point in their career where they are usually experimenting and in a constant state of evolution. As artists progress in their career they will often find
Fine Art Valuation: The Frame Factor 2007-08-30 07:15:10 Fine Art Valuation: The Frame
Factor
The renowned art critic and social commentator John Ruskin once said “Have you ever considered in the early history of painting, how important also is the history of the frame maker? It is a matter, I assure you, needing the very best consideration. For the frame was made before the picture. The painted window is much, but the aperture it fills was thought of before it.” If you were to walk into an art gallery full of empty picture frames hanging on the wall, you would undoubtedly be rather shocked and wonder what was going on. Because the artwork is the primary focus, it is easy to dismiss the picture frame as a mere structural element that does not have any value as an independent entity and does not have any effect on the value of the artwork. Although the picture frame does have a specific function as a protective, decorative, and structural device, the importance of the picture frame goes way beyond its physical functionality.
Antiq Read more:Fine Art
Investing in Art: The Danger of Fads and Trends 2007-08-28 07:15:22 Investing in Art: The Danger
of Fads and Trends
Although the art market is a relatively insulated market there does tend to be a vulnerability that is perpetuated by the amalgamation of fine art with popular culture and the influences of commercialism and the media. As I have said many times before, when investing in art it is primarily the artist’s career that you are investing in so it is important to be as sure as you can that their career is one that will be long lasting. The problem with artists that take advantage of the hype often associated with popular culture is that the creations of popular culture are often short lived fads. Taking advantage of the short lived hype associated with fads and trends is not particularly difficult, what is difficult is producing art that transcends the superficiality of our modern consumer driven society and reveals enough to evoke thoughts and emotions yet conceals enough to allow for differing opinions and interpretations.
Art Read more:Investing
Six Symptoms of Art Addiction 2007-09-03 05:13:07 Six Symptoms of Art Addiction
The other day I was perusing the catalogue for an upcoming major art auction while enjoying my morning latte when I suddenly had a moment of self reflection where I realised that pretty much every part of my day has something to do with art. I am by no means suggesting that this is a bad thing, in fact being able to wake up every morning knowing that I get to spend the day indulging my passion for art is something that I am very thankful for. I don’t think that I would be happy unless I was involved in something art related every day which led me to the conclusion that I am addicted to art. It’s not that I have been in denial or anything but because I am so used to being immersed in the art world I was not aware that I was exhibiting the symptoms of art addiction. So now that I have bared my soul I am sure you are all wondering what the symptoms of art addiction are, well, here you go:
1.You own a credit card that is just for purchasing art:
Ye
Hedge Fund Hearsay and Art Market Madness 2007-09-01 06:24:14 Hedge Fund Hearsay and Art MarketMadness
You have probably seen hedge funds mentioned frequently in the media because of the enormous amount of money that have been invested in them and the huge returns being achieved. What you may not realise is that many of the mega wealthy individuals that have money invested in hedge funds are spending their profits on blue chip art and are making waves in the market in the process. For those of you who don’t know, hedge funds are basically highly speculative private investment ventures that involve high levels of risk in pursuit of higher returns that are open only to a limited range of investors (most hedge funds only open to accredited investors (must have a net worth of at least one million US dollars or have made at least $200,000 each year for the last two years ($300,000 with his or her spouse if married) and have the expectation to make the same amount this year) which makes most hedge funds exempt from the normal regulations impo Read more:Hedge
, Hedge Fund
A Guide to Buying Australian Aboriginal Art 2007-09-27 08:05:01 A Guide
to BuyingAustralianAboriginal
Art
Australian Aboriginal art has been thrust into the limelight of the world stage in recent years due to a combination of culture, history, and aesthetic originality that has captured the eye and imagination of collectors and investors world wide. The recent addition of a new Australian Aboriginal art exhibition to the Musee Du Quai Branly in Paris, which included the commissioning of six Aboriginal artists to paint areas of the outside walls and doors of the museum, has confirmed the cult status that Aboriginal art is currently experiencing in the art world
Because of the popularity of Aboriginal art there has been an increase in the number of Aboriginal artists and consequently, an increase in the number of works being produced. The tendency for some Aboriginal artists to paint a poor quality work for a quick buck has seen a large number of very poor works of questionable origin become readily available. As the majority of traditional Aborigi
Valuing Art - How an Art Price Index Could Change Everything !!! 2007-09-25 08:29:20 Valuing Art - How an Art Price Index
Could ChangeEverything
!!!
One of the reasons that more people don’t invest in art is the lack of a means of measuring the value of their investment on a day to day basis like you can with shares. As the old saying goes, “knowledge is power” which means that a lack of knowledge equals a lack of power and a lack of power equals a lack of control. Investors tend to associate the level of control they have over their investment with how secure their money is because a high level of control would allow the investor to quickly react to an event that is causing a reduction in the value of their investment thereby minimising the negative effects. Because most people are extremely selective and cautious when it comes to investing their money, the level of control that people have over their money is a crucial deciding factor when it comes to deciding what their money will be invested in which is why the stock market is such a popular opti
Art News Flash - Damien Hirst Arrested !!! 2007-10-01 07:38:20 Art News Flash
- DamienHirst
Arrested !!!
‘News Flash: Damien Hirst Arrested for Crimes Against the Art Market’ is a headline that I would love to see appear in every news source world wide. Although I am all for artists making money from their art and promoting art as a profitable investment I think that the actions of Damien Hirst have been detrimental to the short term perception and long term stability of the art market. What crimes has Damien Hirst committed against the art market I hear you ask, well, here are five:
1.Exploitation of art market for monetary gain - If Damien Hirst is as committed to art as one is led to believe then why did he sell “For The Love of God” for 50 million pounds when it only cost 14 million pounds to create. The sale of the skull for 50 million pounds makes it the most expensive “artwork” purchased by a living artist but I cannot see how Hirst can justify selling the artwork for this price when the concept is weak
Collecting Art is Child’s Play 2007-09-29 09:59:25 Collecting Art is Child’s Play
There have been several reports in the media recently of the growing number of children who are developing their own art collections which are being funded by their wealthy and well connected parents most of whom are themselves seasoned fine art aficionados. Apparently these children are being taken into some of the hottest contemporary galleries around and let loose without any restraints other than the credit limit on their mums amex. Although the motives of the parents may be to expose their children to the joys of fine art while at the same time teaching the value of money, I can’t help but wonder whether they realise how their actions and the actions of their children may be affecting the art market. With works being chosen on the basis of the relation to the child’s primary interest at the time, some children’s collections are being developed around subjects (read fads) such as candy, kittens, comics and all manner of other Read more:Collecting
The Art Market Blog - Past, Present and Future 2007-10-13 08:43:29 The Art Market
Blog - Past, Present
and Future
As the art market prepares for the final round of sales that signify the end of another year I thought it a good time to reflect on the last six months and give a bit of an insight into what the next six months will bring for the Art Market Blog. Since starting the Art Market Blog in April I have been overwhelmed by the positive response and encouragement that I have received from people all over the world which really makes the effort and late nights all worth while. Recent mentions on the New York Times website, the Wall Street Journal website, the Conde Nast Portfolio website and many others, have confirmed my original belief in the need for a resource that revealed the inner workings of the art market in a way that was easy to understand and useful to people interested in investing in art
In between dealing with all the request that i get to give my thoughts and opinions on tv, radio, in magazines and newspapers and on websites, I
Buying Affordable Art Online - Ten Awesome Online Art Galleries 2007-10-11 07:27:37 Buying Affordable Art Online - Ten Awesome Online Art Galleries
Get those credit cards ready because you won’t be able to resist all the fantastic artworks available at the awesome online galleries below.
http://www.newbloodart.com
Newbloodart offers affordable, original artwork by artists who are currently studying or have recently graduated from art courses in the UK.
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/blogon/build_your_own_collection/
List of limited edition works available for purchase
http://www.photographerslimitededitions.com/index.php
The outstanding gallery for the most famous art, fashion and celebrity photographers.
http://www.acria.org/store/store_artwork.asp
AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA), a collaborative and independent not-for-profit organization, studies new treatments for HIV/AIDS and related diseases, and conducts a comprehensive HIV health literacy program. The artists listed on the website have donated artworks to help ACRIA raise funds f Read more:Buying
The Dangers of Wealth - A Tale of Two Art Investors 2007-10-09 08:34:39 The Dangers of Wealth
- A Tale of Two Art Investors
Consider these two scenarios:
A very wealth person (Wealthy1) decides that he would like to invest in art and after going through the auction catalogues from the major auction houses for the next couple of months, Wealthy1 comes across a major painting by an extremely well known artist whose work is highly desirable and is always in demand. This particular painting is the most impressive work that Wealthy1 has seen while going through the auction catalogues and the sale of this particular work has received significant press coverage so Wealthy1 decides that this is the best work to invest in. During the auction the bidding for this particular work is very competitive with Wealthy1 emerging as the winner with a hammer price of $1,962,877 against an estimate of $1,700,000 to $1,850,000. Wealthy1 is happy with his purchase even though he paid above the estimate because he has bought a fantastic work of art that he is sure will go up in v
How to Approach the Art Market Like a Pro 2007-10-07 08:23:02 How to Approach the Art Market
Like a Pro
Many art investors make the mistake of approaching the art market as a single entity when in fact the art market is made up of many different and often highly segregated markets. If an investor approaches the art market as a single entity they are basically denying themselves the benefits of trading between the different markets. Different markets have different desires, different demands and therefore value certain artworks differently which means that a savvy art investor can use these variations to their advantage by buying a certain artwork or type of art from a market that attaches a lower value and then selling to a market that attaches a higher value.
As an example of my point, a local Sydney auction house by the name of Vickers and Hoad (http://www.vickhoad.com) that deals primarily in art and antiques recently secured the sale of an estate of Russian antiques and art which included a rather nice Faberge imperial presentation kovsh that
Saatchi Gallery Online Saleroom is Open for Business !!! 2007-10-05 09:15:55 Saatchi Gallery
Online Saleroom is Open for Business
!!!
It is with extreme excitement that I announce that the Saatchi Gallery Online Saleroom (http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/saleroom) is now open for business. The Saatchi Online Gallery is the pet project of controversial advertising mogul and art super-collector Charles Saatchi whose entrepreneurial skill is responsible for the rise of artists such as Damien Hirst (we all make mistakes), Tracey Emin, Sandra Chia and Sean Scully to name a few. With the proven ability to make or break an artist with worrying ease, Saatchi is arguably the most influential person in the world art market and the envy of more than a few art world elite. The physical Saatchi Gallery in London has been closed since 2005 after a highly publicised feud with his landlords which resulted in Saatchi being evicted from the previous gallery location at London’s County Hall. After several delays the Saatchi gallery will re-open in early 2008 at its ne
Top Ten Magazines for Art Investors 2007-10-17 07:21:41 Top Ten Magazines
for Art Investors
In order to be a successful art investor one needs to keep up to date with what is happening in the art world so I have created a list of the top ten magazines that all art investors should be reading. All the magazines that I have chosen are highly valuable resources that provide the information and opinions that are needed to successfully navigate the art market and make informed decisions.
Art News
http://www.artnews.com
Published eleven times a year, ARTnews reports on the art, personalities, issues, trends and events shaping the international art world. In clear, well-crafted language that is as comprehensible to the novice as it is to the expert, the magazine offers a lively, provocative, and visually stimulating package that informs as well as entertains with news dispatches from a worldwide network of correspondents, hard-hitting investigative reports, criticism, and opinion
The Art Newspaper
http://www.theartnewspaper.com
The Art Newspaper i Read more:Top Ten
Art Market Analysis - The Value of Themed Collections 2007-10-21 08:57:04 Art MarketAnalysis
- The Value
of Themed Collections
A trend has begun to emerge in the art market where auction houses and art dealers are holding very specific themed sales of art such as the ‘Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds’ auction being held by Christies on the 23rd of October. An art auction works on the same principles as an art exhibition with one of the primary objectives of both being to make the selection of works as interesting as possible to as wide an audience as possible so as to get as many people through the doors.
Galleries tend to have very specific themes for their exhibitions because a collection or body of work that tells a story is far more accessible and interesting than an exhibition of random, unrelated artworks. When you go to see a themed exhibition you know that lots of work has been put into carefully choosing the works of art that best represent the story or theme of the exhibition which The works of art in a themed exhibition also benef
Adopting an Artwork - How to Get an Artwork For Free 2007-10-25 08:20:52 Adopting an Artwork
- How to Get an Artwork For Free
How awesome would it be to have the opportunity to be able to have an amazing artwork in your home for free!!!!, well now you can thanks to the Fine Art Adoption Network. Although my main focus is the investment side of art I believe that is important to remain in touch with the collecting side of fine art and the experience, pleasure and enjoyment that owning an artwork brings which is where the Fine Art Adoption Network can be of service.
As the name suggest, the Fine Art Adoption network allows people to adopt an artwork, take it into their home and care for it as a collector. According to their website (http://www.fineartadoption.net), FAAN is “an online network, which uses a gift economy to connect artists and potential collectors. All of the artworks on view are available for adoption. This means acquiring an artwork without purchasing it, through an arrangement between the artist and collector. Our goal is to help increase a Read more:Adopting
When Pornography is Pornography and Not Fine Art 2007-10-31 06:44:06 When Pornography
is Pornography and Not Fine Art
Most of you will be aware of the controversy surrounding the Nan Goldin photograph ‘Klara and Edda Belly-Dancing’ which is owned by Elton John and was recently removed from an exhibition by police after complaints were made regarding the sexual nature of the photograph which features two young girls one of whom is sitting down with her legs wide apart. After much deliberation Britain’s Crown Prosecution decided that the photograph was not indecent and that there would be no charges which seems to be a result of an investigation into the same photo in 2001 by the CPS which also found the photograph to be not indecent. I find it rather unbelievable that this particular photo could be considered not indecent considering that the definition of indecency is to “offend against generally accepted standards of propriety (conformity to established standards of good or proper behavior or manners) or good taste” which is exact
How to get an Interest Free Loan to Buy Art 2007-10-29 06:03:01 How to get an Interest
Free Loan to Buy Art
Did you know that you can get an interest free loan to buy art? The Arts Council of England has recently announced a program called ‘Own Art’ which allows people to burrow money to buy a contemporary work of art. According to their website (http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/ownart/index.html) the purpose of the program is to “ put the arts at the heart of national life. One of the ways we do this is to encourage people to live with art they love. We also want to help artists live by their creative output and support galleries who sell high quality contemporary art.”
An individual can burrow between 100 pounds and 2000 pounds to purchase an artwork (painting, photograph, sculpture, furniture, glassware etc) from one of the 250 participating galleries in the UK and then pay back the money burrowed in 10 monthly instalments interest free!!! I think this is such an amazing idea which should be taken advantage of by everyone who ever t
Nick’s Top Ten Artists from the Saatchi Online Gallery 2007-11-04 05:46:13 Nick’s Top TenArtists
from the Saatchi Online Gallery
I was recently asked to pick my top ten artists from the Saatchi Online Gallery to be featured in the Saatchi Gallery magazine which I really enjoyed doing. After spending many (many) hours trawling through the 60,000 odd artists that display their work on the Saatchi Online website I finally had a list of ten that I thought displayed talent, ingenuity, commitment and potential. You should take note of the names of the artists I picked because they are destined for big things. As well as choosing my top ten artists I also had to pick one of those artists to be my top pick and that artist is Boo Saville whose work you can see in the image on the right.
The first time I laid eyes on the work of British artist and Slade graduate Boo Saville, I was immediately struck by the intensity, intricacy and rawness of her monochromatic ink drawings most of which were created using the humble ballpoint pen which, according to the artist, c
Art Market Movements - The Korean Art Revolution 2007-11-02 07:20:01 Art MarketMovements
- The Korean
Art Revolution
In the past Korea has typically been an isolated community that has been overshadowed by China and Japan but in the last few years Korea has come out of the shadows and begun to introduce their art to the world art market and the response has been nothing short of amazing. With very little known of the history of Korean art and with very few people with expertise in Korean art outside of Korea, it is almost as though the history of Korean art within the context of world art history has only just begun.
The lack of understanding and knowledge of historical and classical Korean art has paved the way for contemporary art to take centre stage with many Korean artists leading the way with various forms of experimental media. Considering that Korea was absent from the art world until recently, Korean artists are in a position where they have the opportunity to basically create their cultural identity from scratch and determine their own arti
Why Art Investors Should Avoid Watercolour Paintings 2007-11-08 06:00:58 Why Art Investors
Should Avoid
Watercolour Paintings
I was going through an art auction catalogue the other day when is spotted a beautiful painting by one of my favourite artists, John Glover (English born Australian landscape artist 1767-1849) which to my surprise was listed with an estimate of only AU$10,000-AU$15,000 which is drastically lower than the AU$100,000 which his larger paintings usually sell for. On further inspection I realised that the painting in the auction catalogue was a watercolour which explained the lower price but also got me thinking about why it is that watercolour paintings sell for less than oil or acrylic paintings. After extensive research and analysis I came up with the following reasons for watercolour paintings being less popular and less valuable than oil or acrylic paintings:
-Watercolour was originally by artists used for sketches, cartoons, drawings and other preparatory/trial work for their more highly regarded oil paintings.
-Watercolour is a m
From Garbage Bin to Gallery - But is it Art? 2007-11-14 06:46:59 From Garbage
Bin to Gallery
- But is it Art?
Have you ever pretended to understand and appreciate an artwork in a gallery just so that you didn’t appear ignorant, I know I have. If you go into any contemporary art gallery you will most likely see people standing in front of artworks with expressions on their face that would suggest that they understand the artwork when in fact they have absolutely no idea what they are looking at. People’s reluctance to question the legitimacy or artistic value of an artwork for fear of appearing ignorant or just not cool enough to be able to engage with or understand the artwork has basically allowed artists to completely disregard the boundaries of artistic practice without consequence.
The factors and characteristics that distinguish an artwork from any other object have virtually become obsolete which has allowed people to classify anything that is placed in a gallery as art. Because contemporary artists continue to push the boundaries
An Introduction to the Korean Art Market 2007-11-12 13:46:14 An Introduction
to the Korean
Art Market
I recently wrote a post on the increasing interest in Korean art (see here) which proved to be rather popular due to a lack of information available on Korean art so I thought that I would continue on from that post with an analysis of the Korean art market. Having benefited from the explosion of the Chinese economy as well as growth of their own economy which has been fuelled by Asia and Europe’s appetite for Korean made products, Korea is on track to become one of the wealthiest countries in the world. This means that more and more Korean’s will be looking for different ways to spend their money and methods to diversify their investment portfolios.
Following in the footsteps of their newly wealthy neighbours (India and China), Koreans are beginning to embrace the idea of art as an investment as is evident by the emergence of several Korean art investment funds such as the Seoul Art Fund and the Star Art Fund as well as an increase
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